A Ghostly Dilemma
by CynthiaW
Summary: An asteroid is on a collision course with Earth. How will the NCIS team face the end of the world? A sequel to "Murder Most Spectral," following the events of "Phantom Planet."


Summary: An asteroid is on a collision course with Earth. How will the NCIS team face the end of the world? A sequel to _Murder Most Spectral_, following the events of "Phantom Planet."

Disclaimer: I do not own _Danny Phantom_ or _NCIS_.

A/N: A number of readers have asked me to write a story where the team meets Dani Phantom. It took some work, but I have managed to come up with something, with a lot of help from my friend and collaborator, Miriam1. This whole plot was _her_ baby, start to finish.

A Ghostly Dilemma

It was a quiet day at NCIS. Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo was reading one of his magazines, Special Agent Timothy McGee was reading e-mail, and Officer Ziva David was writing a report to her father, the head of Mossad, Eli David. For once, Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs was also at his desk, watching a news broadcast about the latest worldwide crisis, the Disasteroid.

The whole team suddenly swung their heads in the direction of a hand smacking loudly against a desk. Gibbs was swearing profusely at the news on the tv. Cautiously, Tony asked, "What's the problem, Boss?"

Taking a deep breath, Gibbs calmed himself. "You remember Danny Fenton?" When the team nodded slowly, he turned to the youngest member of the team. "McGee, do you remember how Danny was _very_ uncomfortable about the name Vlad Masters?"

McGee nodded. "Yeah, Boss. I found it a little strange. I never quite understood why he would be so bothered by it."

Gibbs nodded to himself. At the time, Danny mentioned his discomfort at the mention of Masters because the man hit on his mother. Now, he realized the teen barely touched the tip of the iceberg. He pointed at the tv screen. "_That's_ why!" On the screen, they could see a replay of a scene from earlier in the day in Illinois.

Mayor Vlad Masters of Amity Park stood at a podium in front of Amity Park Town Hall, his ghost-fighting team, the Masters' Blasters, sitting behind him. In a condescending voice, he announced into the microphone, "Citizens of Earth! I have news that will impact the entire world. Though every attempt at destroying the Disasteroid has failed, I come to you today, offering an alternative solution: one I think you will find most... surprising."

The mayor climbed up onto the podium and flew into the air over the crowd in front of him, as he transformed, in front of a worldwide audience, from a white-haired man in a black business suit into a blue-skinned vampire with black hair and beard, wearing a white medieval tunic and breeches with a long white cape with a red lining. He laughed evilly at the surprised faces below him.

When the three teens on the stage saw that their employer was a ghost, they immediately jumped up and powered up their weapons. Masters didn't even hesitate. He split himself into three, and each copy fired a pink blast of energy at a teen. All three were thrown into the chairs they had been sitting on. As the audience gasped in shock, he flew over their heads to hover over the stage. He said, "Yes, though I use my human half to walk among you, it's obvious that I am a far superior creature."

A female reporter asked him, "Who are you?"

Masters answered her as though it were a standard interview question to ask a well-known celebrity. "Though the world has come to know me as Vlad Masters, billionaire mayor of Amity Park, I prefer you call me by my chosen, slightly more evil name, Vlad Plasmius."

As everyone stared at him in horror, the evil ghost continued, "I have a proposition to make. The nations of the world must agree unanimously to pay me $500 billion, and make me absolute ruler. In return, I shall use my ghost powers to..."

A male reporter interrupted him, "To destroy the Disasteroid?"

Vlad grinned maliciously, "No. To turn it intangible." He paused to give everyone time to take in exactly how this would help. "It's your choice, world. Be destroyed, or be saved." His smile turned almost innocent for a moment. "Oh, and ruled by me. I eagerly await your decision." He gave another evil laugh as he disappeared.

As the view switched back to the reporter explaining the meeting of the UN General Council in New York City, Ziva said, "Vlad Masters is a half-ghost like Danny?"

Gibbs gritted his teeth. "No. Not like Danny. Danny's a good kid, through and through. That..." he bit off what he _really_ wanted to say before continuing, "that _bastard_ is holding the world hostage for $500 billion and a unanimous decision by the UN to make him king of the world!"

While the team was processing what they'd just seen, Director Jenny Shepard came downstairs from her office. "Attention, everyone!" The whole room went silent, various televisions suddenly the only noise to be heard, as everyone turned from their desks to look at the Director of NCIS. She nodded in satisfaction. "The Sec. Nav. has informed me that, due to the current circumstances, NCIS is to be shut down, with only a skeleton crew to maintain security, until the crisis is over!"

A voice called from the back of the room, "What do you mean?"

Jenny sighed. "We are facing the possibility of the world ending in just a few days, and the world is now being held hostage by some megalomaniacal half-ghost. It has been decided that any and all criminal investigations can be put on hold until we know, for certain, what our fate is going to be. All of you in this room are to go home until further notice. No exceptions."

As soon as the director left, the whole room was in chaos. People began packing up whatever they felt they would need during this department-wide leave. Gibbs made no move to prepare to go anywhere, so his team waited until things quieted down a bit before trying to talk to one another. At last, Tony asked, "So, where's Danny in all of this?" Tim and Ziva were also curious, and turned to look at Gibbs for the answer.

Gibbs shrugged. "I have no idea, Tony. But I'm going to find out. Stay put." He left them in the growing chaos of people leaving, heading for the elevator down to Forensics.

* * *

Gibbs came into Forensics, bearing a large CafPow, to find Abigail "Abby" Sciuto, the forensics specialist, despondently shutting down her babies. Her favorite music was, for once, _not_ blasting from every speaker she had. There was a disturbing silence permeating the room as its occupant prepared to leave for the duration.

He walked up to her as she patted the Mass Spectrometer, put a hand on her shoulder, and kissed the top of her head. "Hey, Abs."

Abby turned to him, hugged him tightly, and grabbed the CafPow from him. After a brief sip from her favorite drink, she said, "Hey, Gibbs. Thanks." She raised the massive cup and took a longer drink, before shouting, "I can't _believe_ they're shutting us down!" She stomped over to another of her toys, fury on her normally happy-go-lucky face. The Goth pounded a bit on the controls as she shut down the machine. "I can't _believe_ that Vlad Masters!" She looked at Gibbs, tears in her eyes. "How can he _do_ that?"

Gibbs put a comforting hand on her arm. "I don't know, Abs. We got a week to find out, one way or the other." He moved his hand to wrap an arm around her shoulders in a one-armed hug. "I hear you're keeping up with Danny, right?"

Abby sniffed a bit and dried her eyes. "Yeah. He's _so_ angry. He can't believe Vlad would reveal himself quite that way."

Gibbs dropped his arm in surprise, and studied the young woman. "You _knew_ about this? About Masters being a half-ghost?"

Abby shrugged, a shadow of her smile coming back. "Well, yeah. Danny told me _ages_ ago!"

Incredulously, Gibbs asked, "And you didn't tell me... why?"

A bit hesitantly, Abby offered, "It wasn't my secret to tell?"

Gibbs sighed. That was what he'd given as his excuse the night the team found out about Danny's secret. He clapped Abby on the shoulder. "Good work, Abs." She grinned back at him, her normal attitude bouncing back in full force.

Pleased that he had his Abby back, the former Marine decided to see what else she'd felt he didn't need to know yet. Clearing his throat, he asked, "Do you mind if I ask a few more personal questions about Danny? Now that we're facing the end of the world?"

Abby's face fell at the reminder of the disaster looming over their heads. Then, she also cleared her throat and got back to business. "Um... If Danny gave me the go-ahead, we're good." She looked at Gibbs worriedly, hoping he wouldn't be mad at her for the ambiguous answer.

Gibbs simply nodded. "Whatever you can tell me, Abs." At her relieved expression, he asked the question Tony had asked him earlier. "Where is Danny in all of this?"

Abby considered what she could tell her friend. "Um... Well, Gibbs. Not too long before they discovered the Disasteroid, Danny and his best friends found serious ghost fighting competition with a group of teenagers outfitted, geared up, and paid for by none other than Mayor Masters."

Gibbs recalled the three teens sitting behind the mayor at the press conference. "The Masters' Blasters."

Abby nodded. "Yep. They kept showing him up, and he was embarrassed. But when he mistook a parade balloon for a dangerous ghost and almost got his friends hurt, it pushed him over the edge."

Gibbs was instantly concerned for the young hero. "Suicide? Not Danny?"

Abby shook her head emphatically, her pigtails swinging wildly. "No, Gibbs. Not suicide. To give up his powers and become purely human, again."

Gibbs was a bit confused by this statement. "Is that even possible?"

Abby shrugged. "I guess so. When the Masters' Blasters,"she sneered as she mentioned the team, "were deputized by Mayor Masters to arrest Danny's parents for harboring a ghost, any indecision he had went out the window. I don't know _what_ he did, but he shocked himself with one of his parents' machines, and he's totally human." She considered this a moment, and then corrected herself. "For now, at least." She stared off at some point unseen, reflecting on a possibility.

Gibbs sighed and gave her a Look. "Abby!"

Abby jerked herself back to reality, and set about explaining to Gibbs what she'd meant. "Well... becoming a ghost was an odd sort of mutation that coated his genes with ectoplasm. But he's been a ghost for so long..." She shrugged. "I don't know. If the ghosts that normally bother him gave him a powerful enough jolt with ectoblasts..." Gibbs' eyes began to glaze. "I can't be sure, because I'm only running on theory, right now, but with enough ectoplasm shot back into his system, he might very well get his powers back."

Gibbs nodded thoughtfully, then looked back at her. "But you're not sure?"

Abby put her hands on her hips. "Well, _nobody_ can be sure about this, Gibbs! This is groundbreaking territory!" She threw her arms out in emphasis. "It's never been done before!" She began to pace, emphasizing her points by moving her arms about as she talked. "Turning someone from a complete human to a half-ghost – well that's happened at least _twice_ now! But for a half-ghost to 'give up the ghost' and turn completely human again... this is a first. It's never been done in the history of all mankind! Only Danny's parents might have a more sound theory." She stopped right in front of Gibbs and crossed her arms. "But _I_ have something they don't."

Curious, he asked, "What's that, Abs?"

Abby smirked triumphantly. "I have all the facts."

* * *

Three days after NCIS was shut down, Gibbs was in his basement, working on his latest boat. There was nothing like waiting for the end of the world by sanding down the ribs of his sailboat. He chuckled a bit at that thought. It wasn't like he'd ever been faced with the end of the world before.

Masters had failed in his plan to turn the Disasteroid intangible. Unable to even_ touch_ the asteroid's surface, he found out that the rock was composed of some anti-ghost element. The good news – the 'king of the world' was stranded in space. The bad news – the Disasteroid was _still_ on a collision course with Earth.

As he paused in his work to check another part of the boat, his cell phone rang. Picking it up, he found Abby's name on the caller ID. He flipped the phone open and answered. "Gibbs."

Abby's voice was very excited when she spoke. "Gibbs! Turn on your tv! Danny's a ghost again!"

Puzzled, Gibbs went over to the little tv he kept in his basement and turned it on to his favorite news channel. There was Danny, in ghost form, speaking into the microphones. A bit nervously, the teen said, "Um... Hello, there! I have a plan that could save us all from the asteroid... And _this_ one is absolutely free! How great is that?" He raised his arms over his head in a celebratory gesture.

An elderly lady in the audience called out, "If ghosts can't touch the asteroid, then how are _you_ gonna stop it?"

Staring intently at his audience, Danny answered, "Because we're not gonna turn the _asteroid_ intangible. We're gonna turn the _Earth_ intangible."

As the audience gasped in shock, an African American teen wearing a red beret, a yellow long-sleeved tee, and khaki slacks stepped out and put a laptop on top of the podium. Calmly, he spoke, "Ladies, gentlemen, various nations, and stuff, my name is Tucker Foley. And I... am a technogeek."

Somewhere in the crowd, a number of people could be heard calling out greetings to the teen. Presumably, those greetings came from fellow technogeeks.

Tucker raised a hand in salute to these fans and said, "Dudes." Then, he pressed a key on the laptop, causing a large projector screen to rise out of the stage floor and open up to a video. As it played, Tucker explained what the video was showing. "The new plan is very simple. With a strong enough ghostly power source, and a big enough transfer device, we can send the ghosts' intangibility across the entire _planet_. This way, the Disasteroid will pass harmlessly through it." The video ended with a strange graphic of a ghost dancing in celebration, followed by some closing credits.

Danny returned to the podium and said, "_That's_ the plan. Who's with us?"

There was stunned silence, at first. Then, slowly, people began to applaud. Pretty soon, everyone at Amity Park Town Hall was clapping and cheering.

As Danny explained to the world how they would set this up, Gibbs decided that he was very impressed by the teens' ingenuity in coming up with this. Recalling that he still had Abby on the line, he said, "I think Danny's going to need some help with this project."

Abby sounded very excited by the idea. "Oh, definitely, Gibbs. I want to help them set up the transfer device. They'll need a _lot_ of people who know complex computer systems. I'd better find out where to sign up. Talk to you later, Gibbs!" She hung up before he had a chance to respond.

Not long after Abby hung up, Gibbs' phone rang again. This time, the call was from Jenny. "What's going on, Director?"

Jenny came straight to the point. "Jethro, I've just spoken with the Sec. Nav. He's informed me that any NCIS personnel that want to help on Phantom's project will be taken to any site they choose by Navy transport. I know you're not one to sit by when there's work to be done, so I called you first."

Gibbs put his sander down on a work table. "I appreciate that, Director. I'll inform my team. How long before the first transports are scheduled to leave?"

"We've got jets and ships getting prepped as we speak. They'll be ready to leave in three hours."

Gibbs nodded to himself. "Alright. I'll get back to you to let you know where we're all going."

* * *

The whole team wound up in the group working in Antarctica. Getting there was an adventure, in and of itself. To save time, they hopscotched several aircraft carriers, via Navy jets, getting there in a little over 20 hours. Mid-air refueling enabled 4-hour flights of 2000 miles per jump. Lots of people from South America, Africa, and Australia were already there, working on the transfer device and sections of transfer cables.

Abby and McGee assisted the scientists constructing the transfer device. Danny's friend Tucker seemed to enjoy working with them. Gibbs and Tony ended up being go-fers for all the scientists, not really having any knowledge of what needed to be done. Ziva served as translator wherever needed, due to her knowledge of languages. Tony _finally_ had proof that she knew 9 languages fluently.

Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard, NCIS' Medical Examiner, and his assistant, Jimmy Palmer, worked in the facility infirmary. Ducky seemed to enjoy working with the living again, though Jimmy missed their off-topic conversations. There were a large number of people having trouble with the temperature and living conditions so close to the South Pole. This kept the medical staff very busy during those three days.

With so many people working on Danny Phantom's transfer device and cables, what would have taken weeks to accomplish under normal circumstances was done with plenty of time to spare. The teams of people laying the cables were assigned specific areas to cover. More people on the ground connected the disparate pieces being laid out.

Tony was not happy about his job that first day. Gibbs took coffee orders, and had Tony deliver McGee's cup. He was sure the younger agent would tease him mercilessly for this, most especially because of all the times Tony had teased _him_. So, he was a bit less than gracious when he brought the steaming cup to the computer geek.

"Here you go, McGee." He plunked it down on a table next to the one the computer sat on to avoid accidents with liquids and electronics.

McGee barely looked up from what he was doing as he picked up the hot cup. "Thanks, Tony." Then he took a sip of his coffee.

Tony was stunned, at first. Here was a perfect opportunity to get back at Tony, and McGee hadn't taken it! Then, he realized that the Probie was far too distracted by what he had to do to really take advantage of this role reversal.

Gibbs delivered Abby her CafPow, then put a tray of cups over by a team of scientists in another area of the room. Then, he walked over to Tony and smacked the younger man on the back of the head with a gloved hand.

"Ow!" Tony complained as he rubbed the back of his head. Gibbs had hit him slightly harder than usual because of the heavy parka hoods and gloves they were all wearing. Tony was much nicer about things after that, and he tread lightly around Gibbs to avoid any more 'wake-up calls' from the senior agent.

* * *

When everything was ready, Danny took a special jet constructed for the purpose into the Ghost Zone, by way of a strange glowing green portal that opened up over the base. Several hours later, the jet came back through. Everyone gasped in shock when it careened out of control and crashed into a nearby mountain in an exploding ball of fire.

Danny's friends, Sam and Tucker, and sister, Jazz, were devastated, though his parents were a bit confused by this reaction. Abby seemed on the verge of tears, while Gibbs and the rest of his team stared at the burning wreckage in shock. Everyone else was still trying to figure out what just happened. Could a ghost be killed?

As the Disasteroid became visible in the sky, Maddie Fenton suddenly discovered that the robot that had been following her and her husband the last few days _wasn't_ her son. As she was asking Jack where Danny was, Sam directed everyone to look at the still-open portal.

Streaming through it were thousands of ghosts. A glance through his binoculars, showed Gibbs that Danny was at their head, a metallic- looking ghost with flaming green hair at his side. To loud cheers from everyone at the base, the ghosts began to gather around the transfer device and touch it.

Scientists flew to their controls to monitor things as the asteroid neared the planet. At Tucker's direction, the ghosts slowly turned the transfer device intangible. Then, the ghosts' intangibility spread over the entire base, and down the wires. Everyone watched the screen as the Disasteroid passed through the entire planet and out again through their base.

When the massive asteroid was finally heading away from Earth, the ghosts let the Earth become tangible again. Everyone in the base was hugging or sighing in relief as they realized the crisis had finally ended. The entire base ran outside to watch the ghosts release the transfer device and land. Danny was embraced by his friends and sister the moment he was on the ground. The metallic ghost had a brief conversation with the teen hero before he led the rest of the ghosts back to the portal.

Gibbs and his team were just approaching Danny when his parents came over. Jack walked up to his son, and said, "Nice job, Danny." He wrapped an arm around Maddie and added, "Or should we say... _Danny_." Maddie gave her son a small smile.

"What?! Uh..." Danny stuttered a bit, before trying to cover up what his parents had obviously already figured out. "Sorry... Citizens." He raised an arm and wagged a finger at his parents, speaking in a rather pathetic-sounding 'hero' voice. "I have no idea _what_ you're talking about."

Maddie stopped him and pushed his arm down. "Isn't there something you want to tell us?"

Jazz joined her family at this point. "It's okay, Danny. They know."

Danny looked around at everyone. By this point, everyone on the base was watching this conversation. Making his decision, Danny transformed back into his human form. After a brief, stunned silence while people absorbed this fact, the whole base applauded and cheered the teen hero. Abby beamed with pride and Gibbs smiled.

As people gathered around Danny, Abby noticed someone off to the side that she hadn't seen before. It was a young girl of about thirteen, who, like Danny in his ghost form, had white hair and green eyes. Her uniform was half black and half white, the DP logo on her long-sleeved belly shirt placed on the left side and the line dividing the black side and the white side going diagonally from right shoulder to left side. She wore a black glove on her right hand and a white glove on her left hand, alternating from the shirt colors. Her bell-bottom pants were black on top, angling down to the inner ankles from about the knees. The bottom of the pants were white, as were the boots.

The girl seemed quite despondent, despite the success of Danny's plan to turn the world intangible. Abby came over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, aren't you sweet? You look familiar."

"I'll bet," the teen scoffed. Her expression saddened.

Abby gave her a tight hug, deciding she needed it. As the girl leaned into the Goth's embrace, Abby asked, "So, what's your name?"

The girl looked into Abby's eyes a moment, as if she was trying to find something. As she found what she was looking for, she nodded. The teen straightened herself a bit as she said, "I'm Danielle, or Dani with an 'I'. And you are...?"

Abby smiled. "I'm Abby." Dani stared sadly at Danny, surrounded by all the people who had helped his plan succeed. His parents were quite proud of having a hero for a son. His sister and friends kept the crowd from mobbing the hero of the world. Abby asked, "What's wrong, Dani?"

Dani shrugged. "I don't know. I'm glad Danny's safe, and all, but..." She sighed. "His family loves him. No one _at all_ cares about me."

Abby studied Dani for a moment. "You guys _have_ to be related. I mean, you look like a female carbon copy of Danny."

Dani glared at the older woman. "That's 'cause I _am_ a carbon copy of him. I was created to be a clone of him." She stared down at the snow sadly. "But the guy who created me never wanted me. He really wanted Danny. I was only..." She gulped painfully. "An accident on the way to his perfect creation, while he found me useful. But now he's gone. He was a jerk, but I did call him 'Daddy' for a while."

Abby gasped and hugged the despondent girl tightly. "Oh, you poor thing!" It was _so_ horrible that she was emotionally abused like that. And even though Danny was the 'preferred' child, instead of being bitter about it, she was glad that Danny was safe. And that he was so lovable, and he was loved. This girl was just as lovable as he was, and probably less adverse to cuddles because of her apparent age... Then, she got an idea. "I know! How would you like it if I adopted you?"

Dani looked up at her. "But you hardly know me! Why would you do that?"

Abby grinned at the young girl. At that moment, she knew Dani was absolutely right. It was like a 'Gibbs moment,' where she realized Gibbs just _knew_ things. It was a 'meta-Gibbs moment,' where it was like she got into Gibbs' head for a moment and truly 'got' him. "I like you! And you need a family that cares about _you_."

She could see she was winning over the dear's indecision, and played her trump card. "Besides, I'm friends with Danny, so you'd be able to keep in touch with him. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't mind hearing from you."

Dani couldn't help but grin back. "Alright. I'm practically an orphan, anyway. And we could just say that my records were destroyed in a fire."

Abby's infectious smile broadened. She _liked_ the way Dani thought. This was going to be fantastic! Then, she waved to a group of people who were standing by the edge of the crowd around Danny. "Come on! I _have_ to introduce you to my boss. He'll like you, and so will the rest of my friends."

Dani wasn't too sure, but Abby took her by the hand and tugged her until she sighed and went with the older woman. As they got closer, Dani could see that the group consisted of an old man with a grandfatherly mien, a middle-aged man with a military air about him, three younger men, and a woman slightly older than Abby.

Abby now began the introductions. "Everyone, I'd like you to meet Danielle, or Dani with an 'I.'" The girl gave a shy wave to the six adults.

Then, Abby pulled the middle-aged man forward. "Dani, this is my boss, Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs. We all just call him Gibbs."

Gibbs smiled and held out a hand. "It's nice to meet you, Dani." They shook hands. Abby was obviously pleased at her boss's greeting. Gibbs smiled at the young woman, and Dani decided she liked that smile. It was warm and fatherly. He struck the girl as the kind of father a kid couldn't help but love. She was sure that, if he had kids, they must absolutely adore him.

Abby now went over to the old man. "This is Dr. Donald Mallard."

The old man came forward to take Dani's hand. "A pleasure to meet you, Danielle. You can call me Ducky; everyone does."

Dani ducked her head shyly and said, "Nice to meet you, Ducky." The half-ghost decided that the elderly doctor would be a wonderful grandfather. He seemed warm and friendly, what Dani felt she would like in a grandfather, if she had one.

Ducky smiled genially at her, then gestured to one of the young men, who wore glasses. "And this is my assistant, Mr. Palmer."

The named man also held out a hand. "You can call me Jimmy." This guy was friendly, and seemed to like being helpful.

Abby moved to the older woman. "This is Officer Ziva David. She's from Israel."

Ziva smiled at the girl. The teen reminded her strongly of Danny Phantom, with her white hair, green eyes, and that strangely wary attitude. But she was also a cute kid, and spunky. "I am pleased to meet you, Dani."

"Same here," Dani answered.

Abby went to the younger of the two remaining men. "This is Special Agent Timothy McGee." Her possessive air suggested that the man was very important to her.

McGee grinned. "Hey, Dani. You can call me Tim."

Dani smiled back at him. It seemed important to Abby that Tim like her. Not that it was hard to like him.

The final man, as tall as Vlad, had an injured air about him as Abby finally got to him. Dani thought, 'You're the last to be thought of, too, huh?'

With a flourish, Abby gestured to the man as she said, "And _this_ is Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo." She put an arm about him in a quick hug. Dani decided that this was just one more reason to like Abby.

DiNozzo's injured look vanished at once, and he gave Dani a boyish grin. "Nice to meet you, Dani. Just call me Tony."

Dani smiled, glad that these people all seemed to like her. "It's nice to meet all of you."

Tony now looked between the ghost girl and Danny, still surrounded by a small crowd of people. He couldn't help but notice that Dani looked just like Danny Phantom. They had a similar 'eager to please' personality. After his quick character study, he made his decision, saying, "I want to introduce you to someone, Dani. Come on!" Taking her by the hand, he gave the teen no chance to object or protest. The rest of the team followed.

As they approached the Fentons, the rest of the crowd had dispersed, except for Danny's friends. Tony called out, "Hey, Danny!"

The addressed teen looked up in surprise at the agent's voice. Then, he ran over to greet the team from NCIS.

After hugging Abby and Tim, and shaking hands with Ducky, Tony, Jimmy, and Ziva, he finally turned to Gibbs. Looking up at the agent, he noticed as Gibbs raised an eyebrow and nodded meaningfully at the teen's parents. Wryly, Danny told him, "I told you they were gonna find out."

Gibbs nodded approvingly. "Yeah. You did. This was as good a time as any."

Jack looked back and forth between them in confusion. "Wait a minute! You _knew_?"

Maddie frowned, as she realized that Agent Gibbs knew _far_ more than he let on.

Gibbs nodded with determination, as he wanted Danny to tell before. "Yep."

Eyes wide, Jack asked, "When did you know?"

Gibbs looked down at Danny reassuringly, before looking back up at the big man. "When you were working in Quantico."

Maddie glared indignantly at him. "And how come you didn't tell us?"

Gibbs just shrugged. "Wasn't my secret to tell." His team shared knowing looks.

Annoyed, the mother crossed her arms, and said, "We're going to have to talk about this, later, Agent Gibbs."

"Whenever you'd like."

Danny, glancing at his clone, spoke up hesitantly. "Um... Mom? Dad? There's someone I'd really like you guys to meet."

Tony, looking forward to surprising Danny, felt like the teen stole his thunder. "Déjà vu." Danny just seemed to _know_ things. "No use making a fuss over it now."

Abby was excited. Danny not only knew about Danielle, he _liked_ her.

Danny rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Guys, this is... Danielle."

Sam and Tucker shared a glance, and nodded in recognition. Sam said, "Yeah. We had a chance to meet her once."

Tucker blurted. "Yeah. She's Danny's clone. Vlad made her."

Sam elbowed the boy _really_ hard, and he doubled over in pain.

Jack, Maddie, and Jazz could only stand there and stare, jaws open in shock and horror at all this new information.

Danny hugged Dani possessively and protectively. "Vlad might have made her, but she's not Vlad. She's innocent." He looked at Jazz. "She's helped me. I've helped her. She's kinda sorta... not quite a cousin."

Valerie Grey, who helped out at the command post, stood a little distance away from Danny and his family, as she tried to digest 'the Great Reveal.' She finished talking to her father and overheard this line, and remembered when she caught both Dannys. Still a little indignant at the revelation that the annoying ghost she hunted turned out to be the cute boy she stopped dating to hunt him... ARGH! She decided to put in her two cents. "Well, you told _me_ she was your cousin."

Danny looked at her, and said, "Yeah, well... The first time we met, she told me she was my third cousin once removed, or something. There wasn't enough time to tell the whole truth. You gotta admit, the truth is kinda complicated."

Abby suddenly realized something, and slowly worked out how she wanted to ask. "Dani... with an 'I'... um... if you're a clone of... Danny with a 'y,' does that mean... you're a half-ghost, too?"

Danielle tensed, unsure of how to respond. Danny gave her a quick squeeze. "It's okay, Dani. You can tell 'em." He released her and stepped back.

Dani looked at Abby, and nodded. "Yeah. I am." Then, she turned human. She now wore a pink hat over her now black hair, a blue hoodie, and pink Bermuda shorts.

Grabbing the girl in a tight hug, Abby snapped, "Tony, get her a parka, now!"

Gibbs noted Danny's t-shirt and jeans, and added, "Get one for Danny Fenton, too." Tony didn't argue; he just nodded and ran back to the base.

Tim considered everything they'd learned. "So, does this mean, legally, you're Danielle Masters?"

Angrily, Dani answered, "No! Legally, I'm Danielle _Phantom_!" She looked down, kicked some snow, and grumbled, "No adult, human _or_ ghost, ever cared enough to share their last name with me."

Abby put a hand on her shoulder. "How does Sciuto work for you?" Dani cocked her head, and Abby clarified, "My last name."

Dani, a big grin on her face, turned, threw herself at the Goth, and hugged her. Tim grinned at the girl's excitement, deciding that he could live with Abby having an adopted daughter, as a child's love had no points of comparison with a boyfriend or husband's love.

Jack, a bit stunned, stuttered, "But... she... I didn't know about her. But she could have been _my_ little girl."

Jack looked at Dani a bit jealously, as the girl looked like she could have been his own daughter. Maddie peaked her eyebrows and linked her arms with her husband. She knew exactly where he was coming from, and agreed with him completely. Another little girl might have been a wonderful addition to the family. Danny and Jazz looked sympathetically between their father and the youngest halfa.

Danielle felt a little overwhelmed by all of this, and she didn't know what to say. She quickly recognized that Jack was everything that Vlad _wasn't_, and could never be. Mr. Fenton was infinitely superior.

Abby nodded in understanding. "Yeah. But you know... you already have a very special Danny." Hugging Danielle again, she added, "_This_ very special Dani should _never_ have to play second fiddle to _anyone_."

Jazz cooed, "Aww."

Dani shed tears of happiness. No one had ever made Danielle feel special and important before. Abby made it obvious that 'special' and 'important' were adjectives that were explicitly for Danielle.

Dani sighed with contentment, and when Abby let her pull away a little, Dani looked over at the older half-ghost. "But... Danny, we can still be cousins, right?"

Danny grinned. "Of course! You really are my own flesh and blood." He grimaced at how awkwardly literal he was about to be. "...and DNA."

Jazz put an arm around her brother, and looked at Abby and Dani. "And now, we'll have a legitimate excuse to visit each other on a semi-regular basis."

Gibbs smiled. His little family was growing.

Tony returned with two parkas, at this point. Danny graciously accepted his, even though he didn't need it.

After both half-ghosts had zipped up their parkas, they began discussing contact information with Abby. Tim, who always had a notebook on him, wrote phone numbers, addresses, and e-mail addresses for them.

When they finished, Ziva began summing things up. "The world is safe. Danny Fenton's parents know about him. Danielle..."

Danny thought about all the loose ends of this adventure. One very important one stood out in his mind: getting Dani adopted. Danny interrupted. "You know, it isn't so crazy to say all the papers on her got lost in a fire." Ziva frowned at him for interrupting her.

Abby jerked her head, as she realized Danielle had that very same thought. Clones were so cool! She grinned at the reaction of her teammate, but turned to the elder half-ghost and asked seriously, "Oh?"

Shrugging uncomfortably, Danny said, "Well, the first time we met and saved each other from Vlad, I kinda... destroyed his lab. There mighta been a few explosions, and computers with important information were sorta turned into scrap metal."

There were satisfied looks from all of the teens, but Abby looked very distressed.

Danny sighed. "Those machines were used for evil purposes. Don't think of them as babies, think of them as monsters." Abby understood, and was far less upset at the mention of the destruction of what she was sure was impressive technology. They _were_ the property of Vlad Masters, the recognized mogul of security technology, after all.

"And the only good thing to come of that episode is Danielle." Dani immediately latched onto him with a big hug.

Abby turned to look at Gibbs. "Can we make this happen?"

Gibbs pursed his lips as he considered. "Jane Doe with amnesia... just materialized out of..."

Dani piped up, "Colorado." Everyone stared at the ghost girl, except the sixteen-year-olds from Amity Park.

Danny acknowledged the truth of that. He raised a finger to get his mother's attention. "The hunting chalet," he reminded her.

Maddie's jaw dropped, recalling the DALV incident. "Why that..."

Jack hugged his wife, interrupting her. He looked into her eyes, and said, "There's very little good I have left to say about... Vladdie." He was very bitter that he couldn't think of his old friend as 'my friend' anymore. Tim recalled Jack's comment when he saw MTAC, and shot him a sympathetic smile.

Jack turned to look at Dani as he continued, "But if he managed to make you, he couldn't have been all bad." Dani also gave him a sympathetic smile. Vlad was a world-class jerk, but he had his moments.

Ziva cleared her throat, and decided to try again. "As I was saying... the world is safe, Danny's parents know his secret, Danielle will soon have a family..." Dani decided she loved Ziva for saying this. "Have we missed anything?" the Israeli asked.

Gibbs shook his head. "Nope. All of our ghostly dilemmas are solved."


End file.
